The Unwanted Wife Returns With Secret Twins

Chloe Kensington had come only to deliver the newly encrypted secure phone Axel had demanded. When she pushed the door to his private suite open just a crack—and froze.

The woman turned her head toward the window. The brow bone, the slope of the nose, the curve of the jaw—they mirrored Chloe’s own face. The resemblance was uncanny.

She stood up and wrapped her arms around Axel’s waist from behind. He did not push her away. He turned, his large hands resting on her hips, and pressed a long kiss to her forehead.

Chloe could not breathe. Her lungs felt like they were packed with wet sand.

She can't believe that her husband, who said love to her last night, is kissing another woman.

Axel’s first—low, intimate, a tone he had never once used with her. “Serena. God, I’ve missed you.”

Chloe's heart was shattered. She couldn't believe that this person was her husband.

A woman’s soft laugh. Then: “Your wife texted me last night, Axel. She’s pregnant.”

Chloe’s heart slammed against her ribs. She is indeed pregnant,butshehad never texted Serena. She didn’t even have her number.

Axel went quiet for a beat. Then a sound Chloe had never heard from him—a cold, ugly laugh. “She told you that?”

“She’s excited,” Serena said sweetly. “Said you’ve been so gentle with her lately. That you’re going to be a wonderful father.”

“Gentle?” Axel spat. “I’ve been crushing birth control pills into her coffee every morning for a year. We won't have children together.She's not qualified yet. Only you can bear my child.”

Serena seemed quite satisfied with this answer. She took the initiative to put her arms around his neck and kissed him, saying, "Oh, dear, you're so pitiful. You have to pretend to love her very much in front of her every day. It must be so hard on you."

Axel sneered,“It’s not an act. She’s just easy to manage.”

“But Axel… what if she really believes it? What if she goes to a doctor? Gets a test?”

“Then I’ll tell her she’s hysterical. ” His voice turned vicious. “And I’ll make sure the prenup leaves her with nothing. Not a dime.”

Serena sighed dramatically. “She’s so in love with you, though. Every morning she makes you coffee. Every night she waits up. It’s actually… sad.”

“Sad?” Axel’s tone dropped to a snarl. “She’s pathetic. A placeholder. I only married her because she’s a cheap copy of you. Same cheekbones. Same jaw. But she’s empty inside. Nothing like you.”

“Still,” Serena murmured, “maybe you should be kinder. She doesn’t know she’s just… filling my shoes. That’s not her fault.”

“Not her fault?” Axel laughed harshly. “She’s the one who signed the prenup. She’s the one who dyes her hair because I ask. She’s the one who lets me dress her like a doll. She’s a volunteer.”

Serena turned her head slightly toward the entryway—directly toward the crack in the door. Her lips curved just a fraction. Then she buried her face into Axel’s chest and whispered, loud enough to carry, “You’re so much crueler than you let her see.”

“She doesn’t deserve the real me,” Axel said, stroking Serena’s hair. “She gets the mask. You get everything.”

Chloe could not breathe. Her lungs felt like they were packed with wet sand.

The harsh terms of her prenuptial agreement flashed in her mind. The strict rules about her appearance, the specific way Axel asked her to style her hair, the exact shade of lipstick he preferred.

She was not a wife. She was a placeholder. A cheap replica of the woman currently in his arms.

Serena shifted her weight. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted the shadow in the entryway. A small, triumphant smile touched her lips before she deliberately buried her face into Axel's chest.

Her lungs burned. In a flurry, she couldn't believe she had bumped into the door. Suddenly, Axel turned his head and saw her. At that moment, his gaze flickered with a hint of panic, but it was quickly replaced by disgust. He was just about to walk over.

She reached the elevator bank and slammed her palm against the call button. The doors opened immediately. She threw herself inside and jammed her finger against the close button.

Axel stepped out of the suite just as the silver doors began to slide shut.

Chloe stared at him through the narrowing gap. His face was an unreadable mask. The doors clicked together, sealing her inside.

The elevator dropped. The sudden descent made her knees buckle. Chloe slid down the cool metal wall and hit the floor. She pulled her knees to her chest and covered her face with her hands.

Tears burned her eyes, hot and fast.

The elevator chimed at the lobby. Chloe scrambled to her feet. She pushed through the revolving glass doors and ran out into the freezing New York rain.

The icy drops soaked through her trench coat instantly. The cold shocked her system, clearing the fog in her brain.

She ran to the curb and threw her hand up. A yellow cab screeched to a halt.

Chloe yanked the door open and slid onto the cracked vinyl seat.

“Where to?” the driver asked, glancing at her in the rearview mirror.

“The Hamptons,” she said, her voice shaking. She rattled off the address of the estate. “And please, hurry.”

She reached into her coat pocket. Her phone was vibrating violently against her thigh. She pulled it out. The screen flashed Axel’s name.

Chloe stared at the glowing letters. Her thumb hovered over the screen. She pressed the red button, sending the call to voicemail.

She opened a new text message. Her fingers trembled so badly she dropped the phone onto her lap. She picked it up again and typed four words.

I am pregnant.

She hit send. Then, she held down the power button until the screen went completely black.

She knew that the news might send her to hell, but she had to do it.